Leisure Services Review Urged

Republican Seeks Less Tax Burden

March 14, 2005|By DANIELA ALTIMARI; Courant Staff Writer

WEST HARTFORD — The town's leisure services department offers more than 3,000 classes, from swimming for babies at Cornerstone Aquatics Center to Pilates for people over 60 at the Elmwood Community Center.

But now, one official is questioning the cost of providing so many recreational offerings.

Republican council member Barbara Carpenter said she is not proposing eliminating programs or raising fees. Rather, she is asking officials to consider ways to boost revenue and to look at any programs that are under-used.

``I'm looking at sponsorships, maximizing space, increasing rentals,'' she said. ``We need to be innovative ... so the burden is not on the taxpayers.''

Her suggestions were met with criticism from Democratic Mayor Scott Slifka and other council Democrats. ``We're always running an analysis of which programs are doing well and which ones aren't,'' he said. ``What we're really talking about is whether Mrs. Carpenter wants to continue providing programs to seniors and our children.''

The current leisure services budget of $4,186,182 covers the cost of maintaining two senior centers, two golf courses, a skating rink, an indoor swimming pool and five outdoor pools, three cemeteries, the Elmwood Community Center and about 1,200 acres of park land.

The town aims for most recreational programs to be supported by those who use them. In the past, some facilities -- notably the golf courses and the indoor pool -- brought in so much revenue that they were effectively subsidizing other programs.

But over the past three years, that subsidy has evaporated, leaving taxpayers to shoulder a greater share.

During a discussion of recreational fees at Tuesday's council meeting, Slifka said he did not ``want to leave the impression that everything in leisure services is losing money.''

Eighty percent of leisure services' programs cover their costs, Slifka said. The main money losers are the two senior centers and the outdoor swimming pools. ``Some of those deficit-running programs are important to a lot of people,'' he said.

In an interview later, Slifka said most leisure services programs do not lend themselves to sponsorship opportunities. ``You're not going to get a sponsor for a bridge game at the senior center,'' he said.

Council member Carolyn Thornberry said she, too, is concerned that Carpenter's comments ``give the false impression that the town is subsidizing for people to play golf or to skate,'' she said in an interview over the weekend. ``What she's talking about is cutting programs.''